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CONDITION:
TIPPED IN SINGLE
PAGE PRINT . Print
sits on a decorated heavy board paper. Excellent
Condition. Image is clean, clear, sharp with beautiful detail. As scanned.
Printed on heavier card paper. This beautiful print
would look great matted and framed. Or an art supply store can provide
you with a selection of frames for old art treasures.
ABOUT THE ARTIST: Watteau, Antoine (1684-1721). A French
rococo artist whose charming and graceful paintings show his interest
in theater and ballet, Antoine Watteau is probably best known for his
fetes galantes. These romantic and idealized scenes depict elaborately
costumed ladies and gentlemen at play in fanciful outdoor settings.
Jean-Antoine Watteau was born on Oct. 10, 1684, in Valenciennes, France.
In 1702 he traveled to Paris, where he supported himself by turning
out religious pictures and copying the works of popular Dutch artists.
In 1704 he began studying with Claude Gillot. Gillot, who designed and
executed scenery for the stage, passed on to Watteau his love of the
Italian theater and the characters from the commedia dell'arte. In 1708
Watteau began working with Claude Audran, who had the care of the treasures
at the Luxembourg Palace. This collection included a group of scenes
from the life of Marie de' Medici painted in the early 1600s by the
Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens's influence can also be seen
in Watteau's work. In 1709-10 Watteau returned to Valenciennes, where
he executed a series of military scenes. In the years 1710-12 he painted
the first of three versions of the myth of Cythera, the island of love
for which pilgrims embark but never arrive. The paintings represented
impossible dreams, the revenge of madness on reason and of freedom on
moral rules. Watteau returned to Paris and in 1715 was befriended by
Pierre Crozat, a rich financier and art collector who owned a splendid
collection of Flemish and Italian paintings and who admired Watteau's
paintings. Watteau lived for a time in the residence of Crozat, but
after a while he left to live in seclusion. This began the period of
his major paintings, including the fetes galantes.
ABOUT THE PRINT: Flora - 1716; Gray-black and white chalks
with red chalk on brown paper, 32.6 x 28.3 cm; Musee du Louvre, Cabinet
des Dessins, Paris
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